PHOENIX — The No. 1-ranked St. David Tigers blew out 16th seed Patagonia 15-0 May 7 in the first round of the 1A state baseball tournament at Goodyear Ballpark.
The Tigers scored two in the first, two in the third and 11 in the fourth while holding the Lobos scoreless to win the game by the 10-run rule.
Pitching for the Tigers were senior Reo Larson, who threw four innings, recorded nine strikeouts and had one walk; and sophomore Ryan Gooding, who threw one inning with three strikeouts. Offensively senior Robby Gooding had one run; Larson had four hits and three RBIs; junior Braden Merrill had two runs, one hit and one RBI; senior Logan Davis had one run, one hit and two RBIs; senior Payton Dixon had three runs; junior Talon Haynie had three runs, two hits and one RBI; junior Devin Deskins had one run; senior Kason Jacquez had two runs, three hits and three RBIs; sophomore Ryan Gooding had one run; and junior Jeremiah Toyota had one run.
“We were slow getting started,” St. David coach Ron Goodman said. “Patagonia had a good pitcher, which we needed to see. Once we got our bats going, we were fine, we just needed to get our timing down. It’s good to get the first win out of the way. If we didn’t win the first one, there’s no second one!”
The Tigers went into the quarterfinal round on May 8, taking on the ninth-ranked Anthem Prep Eagles and winning 11-1.
The Tigers held the Eagles scoreless through the first three innings while posting three in the first and three in the second to lead 6-0 going into the fourth.
Anthem Prep scored one run in the top of the fourth to the Tigers’ three, putting St. David’s lead at 9-1 going into the fifth. Holding the Eagles scoreless and adding two more to the scoreboard, the Tigers won by the 10-run rule at the end of the fifth inning.
Pitching for the Tigers was Jacquez, who had nine strikeouts with one walk.
Offensively Robby Gooding had two runs, one hit and one RBI; Goodman had one hit and two RBIs; Larson had one run; Merrill had one run and two RBIs; Davis had two runs, two hits and one RBI; Dixon had two runs; Haynie had one run and two hits; Deskins had one RBI; Jacquez had one hit and one RBI; Ryan Gooding had one run and one RBI; and Toyota had one run.
“We had good pitching from Jacquez,” Goodman said, “and we were swinging the bats better. This is the first time we’ve been through the first weekend and into the second weekend since 2012.”
The Tigers meet the fifth-ranked Williams Vikings in the semifinals on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Diablo Stadium.
“We need a good week of practice to get ready for this weekend,” the St. David coach said. “The best is yet to come.”
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